War of the Worlds

A closer look at the story

Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker, is far from a perfect father. Shortly after his ex-wife drops off his adolescent son and little girl for one of their rare weekend visits, the sky suddenly darkens and a strange, extraordinarily powerful lightning storm breaks. At an intersection near his home the ground splits open and a gigantic three-legged war machine rises from deep beneath the earth, destroying everything in its path. It is only the first move of an alien attack on the planet. From now on Ray has a single goal: to get his children out of this nightmare alive. Steven Spielberg's 117-minute 2005 take on H. G. Wells's classic stars Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning and Tim Robbins in a science-fiction thriller.